Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission

Members of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Public Safety Commission expressed frustration Thursday with a new state Department of Education tool to assess threats at schools. The Florida Schools Safety Portal launched earlier this month, on Aug. 1.

Students across Broward County went back to school Wednesday morning. But, according to the state commission making recommendations about changes to school security, many are trying to “check a box,” for the first day back.

The state public safety commission that’s been investigating the 2018 Parkland school shooting is meeting in Sunrise Tuesday, the first of two days of meetings this month. On the agenda: mental health services in schools, how schools handle reported threats, and changing discipline programs.

Officials from Broward County Public Schools met in Fort Lauderdale Monday afternoon to formally introduce the new principal who is expected to take over leadership at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.

Michelle Kefford, recently named Florida's 2019 Principal of the Year, has been recommended to take on the role.

Kefford started her education career as a biology teacher at MSD nearly 20 years ago. She said she is still forming her plan for the school.

Nearly a year after its first meeting, the state commission tasked with investigating the Parkland school shooting and making recommendations designed to prevent future massacres considered what its role should be in studying Florida’s mental health treatment system.

The members’ conclusion: It’s not our job.

“Mental health is a big topic. I think we have to be careful about transforming this into a mental health commission,” the commission’s chair, Pinellas County sheriff Bob Gualtieri, said during Wednesday’s meeting at the BB&T Center in Sunrise.

The state commission that is investigating the Parkland school shooting met on Wednesday with families of victims of the massacre to discuss their traumatic experiences of finding out about their loved ones’ fates after the shooting.

The state commission investigating the Parkland school shooting reviewed on Tuesday safety improvements Florida school districts have made since the February 2018 massacre and debated whether to create a system that rates districts on their safety.

Broward Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie introduced the district's new security chief, Brian Katz, who was hired following recommendations from The Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission.

"As father of a child who has been in the Broward School District for 10 years, as volunteer in those schools and as a security professional, I understand the gravity of being the first person to hold this critical role," said Katz.

A Broward County judge wants the case against the confessed Parkland school shooter to head to trial in January 2020.

Nikolas Cruz, 20, faces the death penalty if convicted of 17 counts of first-degree murder for the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14, 2018. He's been charged with another 17 counts of attempted murder.

More than a year after the deadly shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, the Broward County school board voted unanimously to adopt two new emergency policies that state investigators and parents of Parkland victims argue could have saved lives had they been in place sooner.

The board on Wednesday approved a policy clarifying that all staff members are responsible for initiating "code red" lockdowns if they believe there is a threat to students' safety.